Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez isnโt the most popular man in Tucson these days. Such is life coming off a 3-9 season.
But you canโt deny that Rodriguez cares deeply about the sport of college football and his colleagues in the coaching profession. He is the acting president of the American Football Coaches Association, and heโs constantly pushing for positive change in matters that affect coaches and players.
Rodriguez recently commented on the many NCAA rule changes taking effect in college football this year and next. Although he was intimately involved in the discussions that led to their formation, Rodriguez didnโt necessarily like all of the outcomes. Here are his thoughts:
Change: Early signing day. Recruits now can sign letters of intent in late December. This year, the window will be Dec. 20-23.
Rodriguez: โDecemberโs better than February, but it doesnโt solve the problems. I still think it makes more sense to have no signing day. I was one that voted against the December one, because I think there should be none.โ
Change: New period for official visits, starting April 1 of a student-athleteโs junior year and ending in late June.
Rodriguez: โRight now, youโre allowed 56 official visits. We only use 36. So we save the school money. You kind of zero in on the guys you know (will come) by the time the official visits come. Now everybodyโs going to use 56, because it's so early in the process. So itโs going to cost schools more money.
โThe life of an assistant and the work that they do now is already pretty hectic. Which is OK; they get paid well. But to have official visits in those months is way too much to ask for kids, coaches and schools. I think itโs a bad idea.โ
Change: The abolition of two-a-day practices during training camp.
Rodriguez: โNot a big deal. You donโt try grind guys (anymore). The difference nowadays is kids work out all summer. Maybe you could only have a couple (two-a-days). But leave it up to the discretion of the coach.
โIf your coach is going grind his team into the ground, well, shame on him. I think most coaches nowadays have adopted that - not hitting, not going full pads every day, limiting the two-a-days. If youโre going to have two-a-days, one of them is just going to be a light practice. Thatโs what we do. We had what, three two-a-days last year? But we never had two hard ones in the same day. It was a light, easier practice, and then a hard one.
โTo enforce that rule is almost saying, hey, you donโt know how to get a team ready and in shape without beating them up. I think coaches are smarter these days as far as that goes.โ
Change: Addition of a 10th full-time, on-field assistant coach for FBS schools (effective Jan. 9, 2018).
Rodriguez: โThey shouldโve added it right away. Theyโre afraid to add it and disrupt programs. Well, thereโs always going to be disruptions. Why not hire guys now โ between now and July โ and get them acclimated? Iโm glad it passed, but I think it should have been effective right away.โ
Change: Similar to basketball, FBS schools no longer can hire โpeople close to a prospective student-athleteโ for a two-year period before and after enrollment.
Rodriguez: โConceptually, I understand why they did it. But to me, Iโm a coach; Iโm a member of a coachesโ organization. I donโt know why weโd pass or be in favor of anything that limits opportunities, whether itโs high school coaches or young coaches.
โIf they say an individual associated with a prospect, does that mean you canโt hire a personnel guy from another college team because heโs recruited guys or has an association with them? Thereโs a lot of unintended consequences, and I think it punishes high school coaches that do a good job of building programs and having Division I players.
โI think the intent to clean up some of the BS was good, but I think they went about it the wrong way.โ
Change: Alterations to summer-camp protocols. Theyโre limited to 10 days and must take place on campus or at โfacilities regularly used by the school for practice or competition.โ Also, coaches are allowed to have recruiting conversations with prospects.
Rodriguez: โThey were being used for recruiting before, so thereโs really nothing different. Actually, one of my ideas was to limit it to 10 days. Thatโs better. I think camps, where they are now, are in a pretty good spot.
โNobody did satellite camps to โspread the wealth of knowledge of football.โ Letโs not be hypocritical. You did it because you wanted to recruit.โ
